Excalibur Almaz has announced that it is selling tickets to lunar orbit. The price is $100 million. Your golden ticket will entitle you to a complete astronaut experience.

You'll begin with astronaut training: not just a course on how to make it to the escape capsule in the event of an emergency, but also how to pilot the spacecraft back to Earth in the event that something goes wrong with its onboard navigation. The price includes a ticket to a flight to space aboard the XCOR Lynx suborbital spaceplane, so you'll have already been to space and experienced weightlessness before you board the Excalibur reusable capsule. On the big day you'll ride the Soyuz rocket with your two fellow passengers up from Baikonur to one of the company's two 90-cubic-meter space stations. Once you're aboard the station with your two fellow passengers, an electric thruster will slowly spiral the three of you up to an elliptical orbit around the Moon. After several days you'll spiral back the way you came, re-enter Earth orbit, board a small reusable capsule and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, leaving the station behind you. Home again, home again, time to hire that ghost writer and update your Facebook page with a few new pictures.

Excalibur Almaz has based its business around a fleet of Soviet spacecraft purchased by its somewhat-legendary founder, Art Dula of Houston, Texas, who has been involved with several other successful space companies. The age of the thirty-year-old spacecraft means very little; most current Russian spacecraft date from the Soviet-era and they are considered to be among the safest and most reliable spacecraft ever built. Space launches are very public, and Mr. Dula's fleet was built during a time when any public failure meant dire consequences not only for the cosmonaut but also for anyone connected with the failure (people who make mistakes still die, but from "stress"). Because of their stout engineering, old Soviet launchers and spacecraft have consistently excellent safety records.

Several years ago Dula procured two Almaz space stations, designed for Soviet military reconnaissance, and four very stout reusable return capsules along with their escape systems. The space stations are closely related to the Zvezda and Zarya modules on the Russian side of the International Space Station, and although the reusable return vehicles have never been flown manned, they have been extensively tested. For the last seven years the new company has been quietly working on the equally expensive tasks of filling out paperwork and engineering.

A myriad of licenses were necessary to bring the equipment out of Russia and on to the Isle of Man, an aerospace hotbed where Excalibur Almaz is based. Eventually the collection of stations and reusable return vehicles arrived at their new home, and EA began their refurbishment with modern off-the-shelf parts from the various space industry catalogs. The spacecraft received new solar arrays, environmental controls, flight controls, and communications equipment. The kitchen, crew quarters, exercise rooms, storage racks, laboratory, and telescope are all being brought up to date. On the outside, the craft are receiving electric and hypergolic thrusters. The Excalibur Almaz paint scheme is a glossy white, devoid of Soviet insignia.

The Soviet spacecraft by themselves were not enough to build a complete system. Excalibur Almaz has also contracted with the manufacturers in Russia and the Ukraine for more of the stock pieces. They asked aerospace giant EADS Astrium in Europe to do preliminary designs for an intermediate propulsion stage with new passenger and cargo modules based on the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). They struck a Space Act Agreement with NASA in order to learn how to meet US space agency standards for carrying crew to the space station. For marketing studies, EA went to Futron Corporation, a company which specializes in aerospace markets and knows the space tourism industry well.

Futron told them that launch prices were currently too high for profitable operations in Low Earth Orbit. "I stress that we were quite surprised to find that we can't operate at a profit in Low Earth Orbit right now," said Mr. Dula at the ISDC 2012 conference last month. "That takes government subsidy. There aren't enough customers in LEO. There are more customers that are interested in going beyond LEO for a purely commercial system."

"Beyond LEO" meant the Moon, and as it happens mathematics has made getting to the Moon a little easier than it was during the Apollo era. For low-energy lunar transfer orbits EA went to Dr. Ed Belbruno, a mathematician who specializes in celestial mechanics, and to Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena. Orbits were found that would allow the station to use electric propulsion to slowly make its way into lunar orbits. EA contracted with US-based United Launch Alliance (ULA) for phasing studies, the adjustment of a spacecraft's time-position along its orbit. Plans eventually came together for three different lunar missions. One of them is a lunar cycler orbit based on work done by former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, an old friend of Mr. Dula's.

The first mission begins in low Earth orbit and involves an elliptical lunar flyby, good for tourists who want to see the Moon up close through a window instead of a telescope. The second requires the station to travel up to a circular lunar orbit on a slow low-energy trajectory, where it waits for a crew on a high-energy spacecraft such as an Orion space capsule riding on a ULA Centaur upper stage. The crew vehicle docks with the station and can stay for a month or two. It then does a high-energy return and re-enters the atmosphere.

The third mission is the lunar cycler orbit, wherein the space station flies to the Moon on a low-energy trajectory and gets a gravity boost out of the plane of the ecliptic, up and over the Earth instead of around it. The Moon rotates around and catches the spacecraft two weeks later on the other side, catching the spacecraft and returning it to where a new crew or supply ship can dock with it. The two-week cycles could last quite a long time before the station would need to be refueled.

For now, the only man-rated vehicle capable of launching the small "taxi" vehicles, with their launch escape systems and reusable return capsules, are Soyuz rockets. The Chinese Long March is also the right size and man-rated, but U.S. technology export rules forbid it. In the near future other vehicles could be or will be man-rated, so there will be more choices. The stations themselves will probably go up aboard Russian Proton rockets, for which they were designed, but they could also go up on many other launchers. Excalibur Almaz also has a six-person vehicle, essentially a scaled up version of their 3-person capsule, approaching its Critical Design Review.

A reusable reentry vehicle was displayed at the Royal Aeronautical Society's Third European Space Tourism Conference in London, where Mr. Dula made another presentation yesterday. It has now been shipped back to the company headquarters on the Isle of Man, where it will wait for the first three customers. For now, you can see and read more at the Excalibur Almaz website.

Keep in mind that one of Art Dula's other companies, SpaceHab, flew 19 missions. Assuming any of the same people will be involved (and I'd bet money on it), they'll probably do a good job on the refurbs. They're probably as experienced as anyone at building hab hardware.

Most of the rich are either overweighted or are over sex and I can count my fingers there might be only one or two person who can pay the $100 mil and are still young enough to passed the spaceflight tests. It's going to be a hard sell.

I know I can pass the preflight test problem is I don't have the $100 mil.

Most of the rich are either overweighted or are over sex and I can count my fingers there might be only one or two person who can pay the $100 mil and are still young enough to passed the spaceflight tests. It's going to be a hard sell.

True, and one of them is too busy with their own space business, shout outs to Elon and his crew

For now, the only man-rated vehicle capable of launching the small "taxi" vehicles, with their launch escape systems and reusable return capsules, are Soyuz rockets. The Chinese Long March is also the right size and man-rated, but U.S. technology export rules forbit it.

Spelling!

Also, how are US export rules in play here? This is a company located on an island in the North Sea that is a crown dependency of the United Kingdom, that proposes to launch from a site in Kazakhstan.

"I can count my fingers there might be only one or two person who can pay the $100 mil and are still young enough to passed the spaceflight tests"

John Glenn flew into space when he was 77, there are a thousand known billionars, not sure how many can pass the tests but at least 1/3 are under 55, another 20% are 55-60. A fair number of them should be in well enough shape to make a short trip in space.

Most of the rich are either overweighted or are over sex and I can count my fingers there might be only one or two person who can pay the $100 mil and are still young enough to passed the spaceflight tests.

There are plenty of multi-millionaires and billionaires who could afford it. Meanwhile, Dennis Tito and Greg Olsen were both in their 60s when they flew to the ISS and John Glenn flew a space shuttle mission at the age of 77, so age is clearly not a major factor here.

I can count my fingers there might be only one or two person who can pay the $100 mil and are still young enough to passed the spaceflight tests"

John Glenn flew into space when he was 77, there are a thousand known billionars, not sure how many can pass the tests but at least 1/3 are under 55, another 20% are 55-60. A fair number of them should be in well enough shape to make a short trip in space.

I was thinking as I was reading the article that among the people that had the money for it, it seems like _older_ people would be the ones that would want to actually go on the trip. If you're a young billionaire, why risk something going wrong? Sure, the chances of something going wrong are tiny, but if things go wrong, they tend to go very wrong in space. You wouldn't even get a chance to spend all that money! Or, more importantly, swim in it Scrooge McDuck-style!!

This is surreal. Every now and then Ars posts a story which convinces me I've fallen into a coma for a few years and, like Captain America, "they" are trying to ease me into the present, my "future." Sometimes things slip through the cracks, though.

Over a billion people live on less than $1 a day, other people can afford $100M for a joyride. Strange world. But, skipping the cheap moralising, if this is the focus of commercial space flight then we're never going to see large scale emigration from Earth.

Over a billion people live on less than $1 a day, other people can afford $100M for a joyride. Strange world. But, skipping the cheap moralising, if this is the focus of commercial space flight then we're never going to see large scale emigration from Earth.

Why not?

more flights = more experience = new technology = lower costs in time.

so your kids' kids can, maybe, fly to the moon for a 2000 of current dollars. Because billioners spent millions today

Over a billion people live on less than $1 a day, other people can afford $100M for a joyride. Strange world. But, skipping the cheap moralising, if this is the focus of commercial space flight then we're never going to see large scale emigration from Earth.

Why not?

more flights = more experience = new technology = lower costs in time.

so your kids' kids can, maybe, fly to the moon for a 2000 of current dollars. Because billioners spent millions today

...or... y'know... WALL-E.

hux wrote:

Also, how are US export rules in play here? This is a company located on an island in the NorthIrish Sea that is a crown dependency of the United Kingdom, that proposes to launch from a site in Kazakhstan.

How the hell haven't I hard more about this? Screw SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, this is fucking incredible and sounds pretty feasible, if they already have the soviet kit.

I don't know - I think SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are probably better for the future of commercial spaceflight than this. I'd buy it if you were actually landing on the moon, but this is just recycling old technology. Granted it's super cool (and if I had $100M to burn, I'd be signing up), but I'd also be happy with a week or two on a space station or something.

You mean like Mir that was used for more than twice it's designed life?

Or like how it survived a collision with another craft. Russians plan for their bad drivers. =D

Or like how the russians plan to use their sections for a new Mir, if the rest of the ISS is dismantled already in 2020.

"Stout" is how I would describe it. I think you mixed up your characterization: its innards, noise and often failing ventilation and power et cetera, is not "reliable", but (unfortunately, perhaps) "manageable".

....The second requires the station to travel up to a circular lunar orbit on a slow low-energy trajectory, where it waits for a crew on a high-energy spacecraft such as an Orion space capsule riding on a ULA Centaur upper stage. The crew vehicle docks with the station and can stay for a month or two. It then does a high-energy return and re-enters the atmosphere...

They have two space stations right? why wouldn't they place one in Lunar orbit, one in Low Orbit and use the electric boost method to travel between?

It would be my presumption that a Commercial space station in Lunar orbit would gather billion upon billions more dollars than any commercial tourist venture to the moon because you could sell SpaceShip birthing fees at a few million dollars a day to governments around the world. Along with other research that could be done from such a platform, you'd have Commercial industrialists demanding Lunar Orbit seats for 30 days, you'd have a Hotel in lunar orbit, could charge per day per person in the station, plus birthing charge of the ship that brought you like a regular Yacht club. You'd have Excalibur Almaz's SpaceYacht-club in no time. ok ok.. my rant is over, but i just found this option would be more profitable imo because space could be sold at a premium to government and industrialists entities instead of just Bill Gates wannabees.

Sorry, even if I had $100M, I want to walk on the moon, not just orbit. Maybe bring home a moon rock souvenir. Going up to just look around, while exciting (because how can going into space not be exciting?), isn't nearly as exciting as "let's go do something". Hasn't the standard LEO price been around $30M? What do I get for the extra $70M that I couldn't get with LEO and a telescope, other than to say "I was nearly there"? Oh, I guess a look at the far side and a nice wide view of Earth, that's probably worth something. I'm just not sure it's worth $70M. Even if I was a billionaire.